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36 Hours in Providence, R.I.

From left, music at AS220 FOO(d), drinks at Julians, the Rhode Island School of Design’s Museum of Art and outside White Electric Coffee.Credit
Ryan Conaty for The New York Times

PROVIDENCE’S grit and obscurity make it easy to underestimate. On the verge of bankruptcy, with a former mayor who served four years in federal prison for racketeering conspiracy, the capital of the country’s smallest state has something of an image problem. But like Portland, Ore., or Austin, Tex., it’s also a town many times more creative and cosmopolitan than its modest population and municipal troubles suggest. Home to an Ivy League college, one of the best design schools in the country and a major culinary institute, Providence, unsurprisingly, has exceptional food, compelling art and architecture, a thriving gay scene and an inordinate number of very smart people. Yet the city remains unpretentious and affordable, a place where even the best restaurants rarely demand reservations.

Friday

3 p.m.1. ART THROUGH THE AGES

With 84,000 objects housed in its six stories, the Rhode Island School of Design’s Museum of Art (224 Benefit Street; 401-454-6500; risdmuseum.org; $10) could easily consume an entire day. The 135-year-old institution’s collection ranges from ancient Roman, Eyptian and Greek artifacts to midcentury modern Eames furniture and Frank Lloyd Wright stained-glass windows. Its newest addition, opened in 2008, is the 6,000-square-foot Chace Center (20 North Main Street), an exhibition space that is now hosting Spencer Finch’s Painting Air installation, a “sensory experience” that feels like stepping inside a Pantone flipbook.

5 p.m.2. HIDDEN BEAUTY

Cross into downtown via one of the elegant bridges over the Woonasquatucket and Moshassuck Rivers. Both rivers were covered by concrete and rail lines until the mid-1990s, when a considerable effort was undertaken to unearth the city’s waterways. Knock on the door at Big Nazo Lab (60 Eddy Street; 401-831-9652; bignazo.com), where gleeful monsters and alien creatures — colorful wearable sculptures made of latex — peer from storefronts. Founded by Erminio Pinque, an instructor at Rhode Island School of Design, the studio has a gracious open-door policy: “Visitors of all shapes and sizes are welcome,” Professor Pinque said.

8 p.m.3. BANK ON IT

In a lesser food town, the Dorrance (60 Dorrance Street; 401-521-6000; thedorrance.com) could rest on the laurels of its architectural splendor — stained-glass windows, gilded candelabra and elaborate, cake frosting molding. Instead, the restaurant, housed in the opulent lobby of the former Union Trust building, serves food as ornate as its surroundings. On a recent visit there was mild Peruvian ceviche with tomatillo, fried sweet potato chips and herbs ($8) and Rhode Island black fish crusted in quinoa, with quahogs, asparagus and sunchokes, drowned in grass-green ramp dashi ($21). The chef, Benjamin Sukle, 27, was nominated for this year’s James Beard Foundation’s Rising Star Chef of the Year award.

Two of Providence’s most enticing bars are hidden on a residential Federal Hill side street. Signless and easy to miss, the Avery (18 Luongo Memorial Square; averyprovidence.com) has dim lights, woodcuts of Art Nouveau vixens and the varnished woodwork of a luxury yacht. Just down the block, E&O Tap (289 Knight Street; 401-454-4827; eandotap.com) is a raucous dive bar with a changing list of 16 tap beers and a kitschy black velvet painting of Elvis. Around town, try the seasonal beers from Revival Brewing Co. (revivalbrewing.com), a Providence-based brewery that produces a handful of varieties each year, including a saison and a Double Black IPA.

An inconspicuous corner coffee shop, Classic Café (865 Westminster Street; 401-273-0707; classiccaferi.com) has vinyl booths, family photos on the walls and a frenetic open kitchen. From its hissing grill come crisp potato cakes ($1.50), made with cream and Cheddar cheese and onions. The Florentine eggs Benedict is just-wilted spinach ($9.99) and grilled English muffins, as big and moist as pancakes. Half portions are available — and advisable. For a small morning snack. White Electric Coffee (711 Westminster Street; 401-453-3007; whiteelectriccoffee.com) has potent coffee, bagels, pastries and oatmeal.

9 a.m.6. PAISANO!

Like many of the country’s aging Little Italys, Federal Hill can feel more like a theme park attraction than an authentic neighborhood. The chef Cindy Salvato’s three-hour culinary tour, Savoring Rhode Island (401-934-2149; savoringrhodeisland.com; $50), steps past the faux-Italian facades and into the back rooms of historic neighborhood businesses. Among them, a shop that’s been slaughtering quail, rabbit and geese for the city’s immigrant communities since 1853; the diminutive kitchen where Venda Ravioli produces vast quantities of broccoli rabe, truffle and lobster ravioli by hand each day; and the nearly century-old family-run Scialo Brothers Bakery.

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Pop into Eno Fine Wines (225 Westminster Street; 401-521-2000; enofinewines.com) for a bottle, including a selection of regional craft beers, to take next door to Flan y Ajo (225A Westminster Street; 401-432-6656; flanyajo.com), a B.Y.O.B. tapas bar with a small plates menu scrawled on a chalkboard in Spanish and English. The changing menu includes pintxos — or “bites,” smaller than typical tapas — like a single shell-on prawn with roasted garlic and salsa verde ($4) or smoked salmon, goat cheese, Catalonian honey and capers ($3) atop a slice of bread. The tiny space has only a handful of stools (no tables), so strangers congregate around the open kitchen and make conversation.

8:30 p.m.9. A FRENCH ACCENT

Chez Pascal (960 Hope Street; 401-421-4422; chez-pascal.com) is a French restaurant with white tablecloths, leopard print furniture and the open arms of a neighborhood brasserie. The menu emphasizes Rhode Island ingredients, but the food is traditional and exquisite: a selection of house-made pâtés and charcuterie ($18), escargots à la Bourguignon ($10.75) and slow-roasted duck with a seared root vegetable cake and golden raisin and red wine sauce ($28). Across the street is the much-hyped Cook & Brown Public House (959 Hope Street; 401-273-7275; cookandbrown.com), another option for excellent craft cocktails in this cocktail-happy city.

11 p.m.10. FLASHBACK AND DANCE

Along with Ping-Pong tables and pinball machines, and a dance floor downstairs, the Salon (57 Eddy Street; 401-865-6330; thesalonpvd.com) serves PB&J “sammies” and pickleback shots (whiskey with a pickle juice chaser) and plays ’80s pop classics like Slick Rick and Talking Heads. For a more staid night out, have an early dinner, then catch a show at Cable Car Cinema and Cafe (204 South Main Street; 401-272-3970; cablecarcinema.com), where you can sip a glass of wine while watching a little-known feature film straight from the festival circuit.

Sunday

8:55 a.m.11. HAIR OF THE DOG

Get to Julians (318 Broadway; 401-861-1770; juliansprovidence.com) before it opens or plan on waiting. The brunch includes a selection of vegan dishes, like the Def Scram tofu scramble (rainbow carrots, jalapeños, pea tendrils and sesame rice crisps; $9.50), alongside carnivorous masterpieces like the Funky Boss braised short rib eggs Benedict ($18) with caramelized onion, pickled cabbage, jalapeño grits and smoked paprika hollandaise. This is a popular hangover spot; diners can be seen gripping tall, spicy Bloody Marys in one hand, a coffee cup in the other.

1 p.m.12. WALK IT OFF

Take a lazy afternoon stroll along the Blackstone Boulevard Walking Path (blackstoneparksconservancy.org), which begins at Blackstone Park at Angell Street and River Road and cuts through one of Providence’s most beautiful and historic neighborhoods. Then head down to Fox Point and pick up an unusual picnic: Ethiopian takeout at Abyssinia (333 Wickenden Street; 401-454-1412; abyssinia-restaurant.com) and sit by the water in India Point Park (friendsofindiapointpark.org).

​IF YOU GO

The nine-story, 272-room Renaissance Providence Hotel (5 Avenue of the Arts, 401-919-5000; renaissanceprovidenceri.com) is a former 1920s-era Masonic temple. The stately neo-Classical building has a contemporary interior, with some rooms (from $169), overlooking the Rhode Island Statehouse.

Housed in the historic Old Colony House, the Hampton Inn & Suites Providence Downtown (58 Weybosset Street; 401-608-3500; hamptoninn.hilton.com) is one of the best-situated hotels in town. Its 110 rooms start at $179, with Internet and breakfast included.

Correction: July 22, 2012

The 36 Hours column last Sunday, about Providence, R.I., misspelled the name of a restaurant recommended for Sunday brunch. As a Web address included in the recommendation correctly noted, it is Julian’s, not Julien’s (juliansprovidence.com).

A version of this article appears in print on July 15, 2012, on Page TR5 of the New York edition with the headline: 36 Hours: Providence, R.I. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe